Links To More Avenues Of My Mindful Creations

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Whew, the Time To Shine Crop has finally ended over on the Card Swaps forum. It was loads of fun with challenges, games and a blog hop but also very hectic trying to do everything. I'm in the progress of getting my craft room back in shape as it always looks like a hurricane hit after a crop week. Thought I would take a quick break though and post some of the challenges I completed.
The card below was for prairiewildflower / Judy's challenge that she hosted titled "Bling Me Up Scotty". We were to create a card using an image of something that we see in the sky. It could be a stamped image or printed paper etc that featured something we see in the sky. I had a fairly new die that I was anxious to use of a rainbow. So this was the perfect opportunity for me to use it. We also had to add some "glitz" of some sort and somehow to our card. I glittered my rainbow making it very sparkly.

The rainbow die is by My Favorite Things and the clouds are a die by Memory Box. Cardstock is by Bazzill.

Another challenge hosted by Marlene was to make a card or any other paper project of your choice using either Glossy Accents or glossy embossing powder to gloss something on your creation. I was excited to see this challenge because it not only gave me the opportunity to use my rainbow die again but also gave me the opportunity to make a tag to go along with my card. I plan on giving the card to someone who graduated from college this year and the tag will be attached to a present.

So for my tag I used the same dies and same cardstock as the card . I added some baker's twine from Doodlebug and a picket fence from a Martha Stewart border punch. The rainbow looks dark in the picture but in real life it is not that dark and is very glossy. Not sure if I like the rainbow better glittery or glossy. What do you think?

Well this is two of the challenges I completed for the crop. There were 12 in all and I only managed to complete 6 of them. I will post the other 4 in the next day or two. Every crop I make it my goal to complete all 12 but haven't managed to do that yet. Maybe the next crop that is coming up in August...

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

You are on the Time To Shine Blog Hop which is in connection with the Time To Sine Crop which is currently going on over at the Card Swaps forum on the CardMaker site. There will be lots of challenges, games and prizes. Click HERE for details about the crop. You should have arrived here from Marlene's blog. If not then you will want to go back to the beginning with Brooke Smith and the CardMaker Blog and start over as you do not want to miss anything. The theme of the crop is Time To Shine, focusing on glittery and shimmery things. The blog hop theme goes along with that with the hostesses focusing on items that you would see on a time to shine day such as graduation, wedding etc. There is also a fun game going on for all the blog hoppers. So stick with me as I will be giving you the details for that in just a moment.

I chose to make a graduation card for my project. I have been seeing these adorable graduation cap cards all over Pinterest and of course I had to "pin" them. Besides some family and friends that are graduating this year, my son has quite a few friends that are graduating from college this year. He asked if I would make cards for him to give to his friends. I thought the graduation cap card would be perfect to make not only for his friends but also for the ones I needed too. Each one I have made has been made in the color of that person's graduation cap and tassel. Let me tell you, a lot of royal blue and black! Had one navy blue. The card I have pictured below is for one of my son's friends whose cap and gown is black with an off white tassel. Luckily the card is for a girl so I was able to bling it up a bit with some rhinestones and a shimmery tassel made with embroidery floss. All cardstock is by Bazzill and the sentiment is by Hero Arts.

For the inside I cut out the year using Sizzix's script font. I then painted each number with metallic gold paint by Lumiere. While the paint was still wet I sprinkled on gold lame ultra fine glitter by Art Glitter. The majority of the inside was left blank for my son to write a special note to his friend.

I hope you like my project. It is super simple to make and should you like to try it, you can find the instructions HERE.

Now it's time to hear about the fun game that goes along with this hop. Each stop of the hop the hostesses will be giving you a letter. So be sure to collect each one because when you get to the last stop you will be directed to the Card Swaps forum where you will get your final letter and some hints to help you unscramble the word(s) for a chance to win a prize. So without further ado...my letter is:

U

Don't forget to check out the crop if you haven't already. It goes from May 16 - 19th and you have till 11:59pm CST on May 22 to upload your projects for a chance to win a prize. It's loads of fun and I hope to see you at the crop.

Now on to your next stop Colleen Schaan. I am sure she has an awesome project waiting for you to see. I love her cards and her coloring!

Here's a list of the blog hop stops in case you get lost...don't forget to collect your letters along the way!

Friday, May 11, 2012

Hello! Have you tried making a card using the starburst pattern? I have seen it on many blogs and it was featured along with a tutorial on the Operation Write Home site. You can find that tutorial and samples HERE. Also my friend Judy sent me a Christmas card last year using this patter. You can see her gorgeous card HERE. So this pattern has been on my "to try" list for awhile. I finally chose to use it for a challenge a couple of weeks ago on the Card Swaps forum and also chose to send it to my friend Judy for her birthday last month.

It is such a fun and easy pattern / design to make. I had so much fun with it that I chose to make a second one to send to my mother in law for mother's day.

I'm sure I will be using this pattern again in the future. Check out the tutorial from OWH in the link above and give it a try if you haven't already.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

The challenge, week before last, over at Card Swaps on the CardMaker site, was to make a card that was Disney inspired. Love, love, love Disney and all the Disney characters! Feeling in a pink mood, I chose to make a Minnie Mouse card. Cardstock used is by Bazzill. Embossing folder is by cuttlebug. Minnie Mouse images are digi images that I colored with Prismacolor color pencils.

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Back again as promised earlier with my project for this week's challenge over at Card Swaps on the CardMakers site. The challenge is to make a card portfolio. We were given a link to a tutorial on how to make one that we could use or we were also free to tweak the design a bit or design our own. I did a bit of tweaking and came up with a design using one sheet of 8 1/2" x 11" piece of cardstock. The size of my portfolio will hold size A2 cards with envelopes.

Here is an inside view of my portfolio. I kept it simple. The cards I plan on making to put inside will feature the window die template that I used for the front of the cover. I plan on making a card for each season, Summer, Fall etc.

Here's how I made the portfolio:

Take a piece of sturdy cardstock that measures 8 1/2" x 11". With the 8 1/2 side at the top of your score board, score at 6" and 6 1/4". Now turn your cardstock so that the 11" side is at the top of your scoreboard and score at the following score marks at:
3/4", 5 1/4", 5 3/4", and 10 1/4" all of these score marks are scored all the way down. Without turning the cardstock you will score at the 1/2" mark only scoring up to the 6" score line that you first scored. Then score one more line at 10 1/2" up to the 6" score line. Now flip your cardstock around so that the last two score lines you made are on the bottom. Here's what your piece of cardstock should look like:

Take scissors or an exacto knife and cut on the 5 1/4" and 5 3/4" lines up to the 6" score line and remove that piece. On both sides cut out the notch between the 6" and 6 1/4" line up to the 1/2" score line and remove. Now your piece of cardstock should look like this:

Fold and crease all of your score lines. You will see the portfolio take shape as you are creasing the score lines. The bottom two flaps form the pockets, the space between your two middle score lines form the spine etc. If you would like to add ribbon to your project for ribbon tie closures, you would do so at this time. Using an exacto knife you will cut a slit on the 3/4" score line and on the 10 1/4" score line (your side flaps) on each side in the middle. Cut your slit to fit the width of your ribbon. Insert the ends of your two pieces of ribbon into the slits and then glue your 3/4" side flaps down which will secure your ribbon ties in place. You can see the ribbon coming out of the sides in my inside view picture. In that picture you can see how the ends are hidden under the side flaps. Here is a picture of what your cardstock will look like as you are folding the score lines:

You will need to apply a strong adhesive to the 3/4" side flaps and the 1/2" pocket side flaps. That's all there is to making the holder! Pretty easy eh? I recommend doing any decorating and embellishing that you may want to do before you glue your holder together. I find it easier.

Friday, May 4, 2012

A quick post to get myself updated on my blog. I've been neglecting things here on my blog lately and not posting my projects...sorry about that! These are some more 3x3 cards. The Asian ones were made for the February crop on the Card Swaps forum over at CardMakers. We were to make 4 3x3 cards along with a holder for them. We had a specific holder that we had directions for to make. It went together really fast and easy. The holder holds 4 3x3 cards with envelopes very nicely. There is also a middle section for holding a small pen or stamps. I made mine with a clear acetate top. It would make a nice gift for someone.

I also recently hosted a swap for 3x3 cards and here are a couple of the ones I made.

Both have embossing on them but I had a really difficult time getting a good photo that would show the embossing.

This last 3x3 was made to look like the quilt block the Ohio Star.

Thanks for stopping by. I will be back in just a bit with my project for this week's challenge at Card Swaps.